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<title>A Night of 'Rest' and 'Relaxation' by FireflySong</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24942277">A Night of 'Rest' and 'Relaxation'</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflySong/pseuds/FireflySong'>FireflySong</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pride Month Writing Prompt Challenge 2020 [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tales of Phantasia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Banter, Camping, Cooking, F/M, Humor, Nothing more, Ships are only hinted at, just friends being friends and setting up camp for the night, nothing less</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:33:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,530</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24942277</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflySong/pseuds/FireflySong</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The sun is about to fall, and that means it's time for Cress and the others to set up camp for the evening. It's chaotic but Cress wouldn't trade it for the world.</p><p>Written for Day 23: Camp of the Pride Month Writing Prompt Challenge over on tumblr.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chester Burklight/Arche Klein, Cress Albane &amp; Mint Adenade &amp; Chester Burklight &amp; Arche Klein &amp; Klarth F. Lester &amp; Suzu Fujiyabashi, Mint Adnade/Cress Albane</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pride Month Writing Prompt Challenge 2020 [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770988</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Night of 'Rest' and 'Relaxation'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>trying to catch up on my prompts, so here's the third one of the day from me, and the second tales one to boot. i knew from the moment i saw the prompt that camp could only be for these dorks, and i tried to give everyone roughly equal screen time. but im not confident in suzu's voice and arche and chester are just way too easy to write, so i don't think i did as well as i would have liked. but i think i did okay anyways all things considered.</p><p>you can find me on tumblr at love-fireflysong if you feel so inclined!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So, whose turn is it to cook this time?”</p><p>Claus looked up from the book he was reading, and rubbed his fingers along the brim of his hat as he thought out loud. “Hmmm. Well, Mint cooked last night, I made some curry the night before, and Suzu did something before that, can’t remember what though. So it’s down to either Cress, Arche, or Chester.”</p><p>Arche’s head popped up from where she was digging around in her bag and opened her mouth, but Chester butts in before she could say anything. “I am not letting you cook <i>anything</i>. I will cook both tonight and tomorrow if it comes to it.”</p><p>“You say that as though your cooking is any better than mine!”</p><p>“It’s leagues better than anything you’ve ever done, and you know it!”</p><p>Before their argument could get anymore off the rails and attract some of the local beasts to their campsite, Cress interrupted. “I’ll cook tonight, if it’s fine with everyone.”</p><p>Everyone else murmured their agreements and nodded their heads, except for Arche who batted her eyes in Cress’s direction. “Oh, that’s so nice of you, Cress—”</p><p>“Laying it on a bit thick don’t you think?” Chester grumbled under his breath. </p><p>“—you’re so much more of a gentleman than <i>somebody</i> I won’t name.”</p><p>“Oh, and who exactly is that supposed to be?”</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know. Why don’t you go ahead and guess, or are you too stupid to figure it out?”</p><p>Cress turned away from his best friend and the half-elf witch, ignoring their usual bantering and fighting, to look at Mint helping Suzu to start a fire. He smiled softly in her direction. “What ingredients do we still have on hand?” </p><p>Mint paused her assistance with the young ninja to stand up and dig through the pouch of cooking supplies she always carried. “Well, we are beginning to run short on a few things. We used the last of the bread and eggs when we stopped for lunch after fighting that pack of Timber Wolves earlier in the day.”</p><p>Claus took her place next to Suzu, and helped to try and start the fire going. “Probably be a good idea to stock up again soon. Thankfully Alvanista's only another day or so away, so we can at least fill back up on bread and eggs. We’re gonna be out of luck for if we want any quality seafood or fruit though.”</p><p>Cress thought for a bit. “We got the stuff for beef stew?”</p><p>Mint shook her head sadly. “Sorry Cress, but we ran out of potatoes a couple of days back when Claus made curry.”</p><p>“You made the curry too hot, Claus.” Suzu interjected casually. “You used way too many spices, so you should be more careful with that.”</p><p>He sighed. “It wasn’t that hot Suzu, everyone else was fine with it. Though I will try to lower the amount that I use for you.”</p><p>Suzu nodded, seemingly happy at the compromise and returned back to the fire.</p><p>“We still do have some spices though, right?” Cress waited for Mint’s nod of approval and continued. “Well, what about spaghetti then?”</p><p>The cleric narrowed her eyes in concentration as she continued to dig around in the bag, before looking at him with clear victory in her eyes. “We still have a couple of tomatoes left, though this will definitely finish those off.”</p><p>Cress let out a sigh of relief and looked down at the still empty fire pit that Mint and Suzu had made. Squaring his shoulders, he turned back to Arche and Chester who had now started pulling at the others hair, while still calling the other names.</p><p>“She-demon!”</p><p>“Shifty eyes!”</p><p>“You’re so annoying you know that?!”</p><p>“Hey!” The two of them paused in their banter to look over at Cress, though they never actually let go of the other’s hair. “You think you can give us a hand with this fire, Arche?”</p><p>Chester just stared at him agog. “Are you nuts dude? She’ll burn the entire forest down if we’re not careful!”</p><p>Arche harrumphed as she let go of Chester, nearly shoving him backwards as she turned back to the fire. “I’ll show you...” She started to whisper words of arcane power under her breath as Cress, Mint, Suzu, and Claus all backed away from the the make-shift firepit. With a quick movement of her hands, the spell finished with a small bright red spark cupped between her open palms. With a cry of  "Fireball!" she let the spark go and it expanded into a small, blazing ball of fire that collided into the dry twigs and leaves, and set it ablaze instantly. Victorious, she turned back to Chester, hands proudly resting on her hips. “Well? Got nothing to say with that smart mouth now?”</p><p>Chester snorted and rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You got lucky. Could have burned us all to a crisp if you weren’t careful.”</p><p>“Excuse you, I am always careful with my spells. I never miss my targets!”</p><p>“Really? So you were meaning to miss those Killer Bee’s and bean me in the back of the head with that Storm earlier?”</p><p>“Like I said, I never miss.”</p><p>“Why you—”</p><p>“They act like children sometimes, I swear.” Cress turned back to look at Claus shake his head in an odd mixture of exasperation and fondness. “Can’t take them anywhere together.”</p><p>Mint smiled and shrugged. “I don’t know, I think it’s sweet. I mean they never seem more alive or happy as when they’re teasing each other.”</p><p>Cress snorted and stuck his thumb over his shoulder at Arche and Chester who had begun to childishly pinch each other on their arms. “You call that happy? Or alive? I’m surprised that they haven’t tried to kill each other yet, honestly.”</p><p>Suzu shook her head in agreement. “I will never understand their relationship. I don’t understand why two people who are clearly very fond of each other would say such mean things.”</p><p>“You’ll understand one day, Suzu. Some people just show their affections differently that’s all.”</p><p>“Oh, you mean like you and Mirald, Claus?” Mint said innocently. Her smile only became more angelic when he pulled his hat further down to hide his red face.</p><p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about Mint.”</p><p>Suzu just watched all of this nonplussed. “I don’t think I want to understand.”</p><p>Cress sighed in agreement, clapping his hand onto her shoulder as he began to collect the ingredients needed for spaghetti. “Neither do I Suzu, neither do I.” </p><p>Seeing that Mint was busy with helping chop up some of the veggies for the sauce and Claus had returned back to his book—rubbing at one of the many, many rings on his fingers—and not having the energy to interrupt whatever it was that Chester and Arche were doing for a third time, he turned back to Suzu. “I think I remember seeing a creek or river or something a little further back, do you mind going to fill this pot up with water for me?”</p><p>Suzu leveled him with a serious look, nodded once, and in a swirl of leaves vanished from sight with the pot in her hands. With that done, he went to sit down beside Mint and joined her in cutting up veggies and peeling the tomatoes for the sauce. The soft, appreciative smile she gave him as he did so sent his stomach doing pleasant little flips. Arche and Chester could keep whatever it was they had going on, he thought that this was much nicer.</p><p>Speaking of, Cress turned his attention to the bickering duo when he realized how quiet it had suddenly gotten as he started to stir the pot of peeled and crushed tomatoes and spices. Only to see that they had stopped their arguing at some point, and were now going through their own packs. Chester stopped his rummaging and turned to his quiver.</p><p>“Hey, Cress? Do you remember how many arrows I started with today?”</p><p>Before Cress could respond that he wasn’t sure, Arche already had, not looking up from her own pack as she continued her own digging. “Thirty-two,” she replied matter-of-factly. “There are a few sticks over that way that you might be able to use to make some new arrows. I managed to save a couple of feathers from the various Chirpees and Scavengers we killed earlier that you can use for fletching, too.”</p><p>“Sweet, thanks Arche.” Chester turned his head to talk to her over his shoulder. “If you’re looking for that new spell book you found near Suzu’s village, you gave it to Mint to hold onto last night. It should be in her bag.”</p><p>“Oh right! I totally forgot!”</p><p>Cress just looked at Mint and Claus bemused, but both only shrugged at him as they continued their own duties for the night, but not before Mint handed Arche the Fire Storm spell book she had been looking for. Soon enough, Suzu returned with the pot full of water, and Cress placed it off to the side while she used her skill to once again vanish, this time appearing at the top of a tree. There, she opened the scroll that they had bought off of the kunochi at the summit of Lone Valley.</p><p>The rest of the time passed in relative peace as Cress continued to make supper while Mint assisted him. Claus mumbled under his breath as he continued to twist at his rings and add new sections to his book while Suzu never moved from her spot in the tree above them. Chester sat on a nearby log as he slowly and methodically carved and fletched new arrows, and Arche sat behind him, leaning onto the log and resting her head on his back as she frantically flipped through pages of her spell book. All in all, it was as peaceful an evening as Cress could have hoped for. </p><p>Finally though, the sauce finished and he was pleased to announce as such. “Alright guys, looks like it’s about done!”</p><p>“Finally,” Arche whined as she tucked her book under arm, accepting Chester’s hand to help her up. “Thought I was gonna die of starvation over here.”</p><p>Chester nodded solemnly. “It’s true. I could hear her stomach the entire I was making arrows. It was very distracting, almost stabbed myself with my knife a couple of times it was so loud.”</p><p>Once Mint handed Arche her bowl and fork, she didn’t hesitate to jab her fork into Chester’s side. “It’s not nice to take about a lady’s stomach like that.”</p><p>“What lady? The only lady I see here is Mint, and I’ve never once talked about her stomach.”</p><p>Claus groaned in exasperation. “Can we please have a meal in peace for once? You two can continue your flirting after we finish eating.”</p><p>Instead of appearing embarrassed though, Chester only laughed. “Who’d flirt with her? I’m not interested in shrill, annoying, pink, brats.”</p><p>Arche only nodded in agreement. “Exactly. My type is tall, dark, and handsome. Not blue, loud-mouthed, and hot-headed.”</p><p>“Who're you calling loud-mouthed?”</p><p>“Well, who were <i>you</i> calling annoying?”</p><p>Mint giggled quietly behind her hand as Cress gave out a serving of sauce to Suzu. Who looked askance at her bowl, and then at Cress. “You didn’t put in too many spices did you?”</p><p>He shook his head fondly and patted her on her own head. “No, I made sure to go light on them this time. You should be fine.”</p><p>“Good. Thank you.”</p><p>After getting his own bowl filled, Claus lifted the brim of his hat to take a look at the now very dark sky. “We should probably figure out our watch order while we eat. It’s getting late and we should all be heading to sleep pretty soon. I’ll take first watch though, I want to get some more writing done before I hit the hay.”</p><p>“I can take the final watch,” Suzu offered. She noticed Mint make a face of concern but raised her hand. “It’s fine. I’m used to early mornings anyhow. It’s when I do my training.”  She stuck a forkful of spaghetti into her mouth and made a satisfactory nod at the taste.</p><p>“Oh,” Mint said instead. “If you’re sure, Suzu... I can do third then.” She turned to Cress before he could say a word, giving him an uncharacteristically stern look. “You made supper tonight, Cress, not me. I only helped to cut some veggies so that doesn’t count. Which means you’re exempt from watch duty. It’s your own rule after all.” Cress shrunk back a little at that. She wasn’t wrong, she was just using the rule he had made for her when she'd had to cook every night against him.</p><p>“Oh! I’ll take sch-econd vatch zen!” Arche butt in with an excited grin, mouth full of spaghetti that she frantically swallowed down. “Maybe I can finish reading my spell book tonight and have a new spell to try out in the morning.”</p><p>“Welp, guess it looks like I’m on second watch with you then.” Chester sighed like he was being put-upon to do this. “Someone’s gotta babysit you after all. Make sure you don’t get lost when you go out for a midnight flight or something.”</p><p>“I think if anyone here needs babysitting its you, but suit yourself.”</p><p>Cress, Mint, and Claus all shared a look of puzzlement. This was unusual, the two of them rarely agreed to take watch together, and if this was the only the first time it would be one thing. But it wasn’t. This was almost the fourth time in a row that they had offered to do so. Something was up, and Cress wasn’t sure he wanted to know what.</p><p>With a confused shrug, Claus stuck a forkful of spaghetti and sauce in his mouth and made a face. “Are you sure you put enough spices in, Cress? This is kinda bland.”</p><p>Mint sighed as she handed the spice bag to Claus. “It’s harder then you think to make meals that both you and Suzu will eat, you know.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Chester butt in as he elbowed Arche with a snicker. “Why can’t you be like this one? She’ll eat anything as long as it’s vaguely edible.”</p><p>“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you ever insult your own cooking like that, Chester.” Cress fired back casually from next to Mint as he picked at his bowl. “Not usually your style.”</p><p>Chester just stared dumbfounded at Cress while Arche nearly fell off the log she was sitting on she was laughing so hard. Even Claus snorted into his spaghetti and Mint hid a smile behind her fork as she took a bite. Suzu seemed to be the only one unaffected, but Cress could make out the amusement in her eyes and the slight upturn of her smile.</p><p>“Cress, dude. What the hell, man?”</p><p>Cress just shrugged with a grin on his face as he took his own bite of supper tonight. Sure, camping was chaotic whenever they had to do it, but it was definitely his favourite part of them travelling together.</p>
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